# Kin Networks and Old-Age Survival During the Demographic Transition

> **NIH NIH K01** · STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT ALBANY · 2022 · $121,552

## Abstract

Kin networks and old-age survival during the demographic transition
Project Summary/Abstract
 This is a K01-award for Dr. Julia Jennings, a biological anthropologist and demographer at the
University at Albany, State University of New York. Dr. Jennings is an early-career investigator in kin support
and aging. This award will provide Dr. Jennings with the support to accomplish the following career
development objectives: (1) to become an expert in social support, gerontology, and social network analysis;
(2) to conduct original research on kin networks and adult mortality; (3) develop an independent research
career and become competitive for R-level funding. To meet these objectives, Dr. Jennings has assembled a
mentoring team that includes primary mentor Dr. Merril Silverstein, Marjorie Cantor Endowed Professor in
Aging at Syracuse University and an expert in intergenerational support and aging in international contexts,
and three co-mentors: Dr. Benjamin Shaw, an expert in the social determinants of healthy aging, Dr. Karl
Rethemeyer, a social network analyst, and Dr. Ken Smith, a specialist on the familial aspects of health, aging,
and longevity.
 Kinship and social ties are associated with longer lives among older adults. This project will focus on
the associations among multiple measures of kin networks, the spatial location of kin, and old-age mortality;
the possible role of economic status in explaining these relationships; and network change over time. In Aim 1,
Dr. Jennings will use a unique historical dataset with 60 years of observation to study whole kin networks for
an entire population. She will address possible independent and joint effects of the structure and spatial
distribution of kin networks and change over time and the life course. In Aim 2, Dr. Jennings will investigate the
effects of co-resident kin and survival using a modern linked census sample from the same country. Aim 3 will
focus on the relationship between social network measures and health status in a longitudinal study of aging
from the same country while drawing comparisons across the datasets and findings from Aims 1-2. Each aim
will use advanced quantitative techniques, including social network analysis, spatial analysis, and event history
analysis. This research will be the foundation of a R01 application on the effects on kin networks on mortality in
contemporary and comparative contexts to be submitted in the last year of the K-award.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10434068
- **Project number:** 5K01AG055664-05
- **Recipient organization:** STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT ALBANY
- **Principal Investigator:** Julia Jennings
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $121,552
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-08-15 → 2023-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10434068

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10434068, Kin Networks and Old-Age Survival During the Demographic Transition (5K01AG055664-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10434068. Licensed CC0.

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